Man charged in White House correspondents’ dinner attack is indicted on
new assault count
[May 06, 2026]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A California man accused of trying to storm the White
House Correspondents’ Association dinner and attempting to kill
President Donald Trump was indicted Tuesday on a new charge over claims
that he fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer during the attack.
Cole Tomas Allen initially was charged in a complaint with attempting to
assassinate the president and two additional firearms counts. He faces a
maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the attempted
assassination charge alone.
Allen's indictment by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., includes
the same three counts but also adds a charge of assaulting a federal
officer with a deadly weapon.
A Secret Service officer was shot once in a bullet-resistant vest during
the April 25 attack at at the Washington Hilton, which disrupted and
ultimately prompted an early end to one of the highest-profile annual
events in the nation’s capital. Allen was armed with guns and knives
when he ran through a security checkpoint and pointed his weapon at the
officer, who fired five times without hitting anybody, authorities said.
The addition of the assault charge confirms that authorities believe
Allen fired the shot that struck the officer. Acting Attorney General
Todd Blanche indicated last week that investigators wanted to review
more ballistics evidence before making that determination.
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This courtroom sketch depicts Cole Tomas Allen, center, listening as
his attorney Eugene Ohm, left, speaks to U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia
Faruqui, Monday, May 4, 2026, in Washington, as Tony Towns, the
acting general counsel for the District of Columbia Department of
Corrections, listens at right. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)
Allen's attorneys have questioned the strength of the government's
theory that their client intended to kill the president or fired a
shot that struck the officer.
“In sum,” they wrote, “the government’s entire argument about the
nature and circumstances of the offense is based upon inferences
drawn about Mr. Allen’s intent that raise more questions than
answers.”
Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was injured but was not shot. He
was placed on suicide watch after his arrest, but jail officials
removed him from that status over the weekend. Allen's attorneys
complained that he had been unnecessarily confined in a padded room
with constant lighting, repeatedly strip searched and placed in
restraints outside his cell.
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